What are we watching now?

[State of Epicicity]

Have you seen Nightcrawler? He's great in that. Really; anything he's in.

That is an incredible film. I'm with you 100% on that. That was one instance where I felt like the director was extremely influenced by Michael Mann. I think if you watched that right after watching Collateral you'd see striking similarities in style. But for Gyllenhaal, to me that's one of his most impressive performances. He's again unnerving in it. He's able to be so intense for so long, it's like watching a feat of strength.

 

[Achilles]

Who's better?
Gosling or Gyllenhaal?

It's like this century's version of DeNiro or Pacino!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Gyllenhaal.

 

[Achilles]

I don't know, The Place Beyond the Pines, Half Nelson, Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl, Drive.......

Both pretty awesome in pretty much everything they do.

We need a remake of Heat to pair them up.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

48 Hrs and Another 48 Hrs with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. Enjoyed the first film and liking the second film thus far.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I don't know, The Place Beyond the Pines, Half Nelson, Blue Valentine, Lars and the Real Girl, Drive.......

Both pretty awesome in pretty much everything they do.

We need a remake of Heat to pair them up.

I don't disagree. But he's went on record stating he isn't doing anything dark anymore for personal reasons and I'm thinking the days of movies with him other than the Fall Guy and Barbie are what we're going to see. Obviously; Gyllenhaal does his hollywood schtick as well. But I feel like he still has some weird shit in him.

 

[State of Epicicity]

We need a remake of Heat to pair them up.

Heat 2 is under way; it's rumored that Austin Butler is a young Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer's original role) and I think it's certain that Adam Driver is a young Niel McCauley (Robert De Niro's original role).

 

[JiveTurkey]

I think Heat is overrated and the DeNiro/Pacino exchange is about as overblown as you can get compared to the initial hype of those 2 in the same scene

 

[State of Epicicity]

I think Heat is overrated and the DeNiro/Pacino exchange is about as overblown as you can get compared to the initial hype of those 2 in the same scene

I feel like I could write a book about that film. To me it's a masterpiece. I think really the only huge negative thing is De Niro, because I think that's the beginning of him not really trying. Other than that, like I said, I'd have to write a book to praise it high enough haha. Take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Achilles]

Overlong, too much time spent on boy/girl soap opera stuff, and the ending was so dumb.
It's like they took their diner scene with the hint of bonding and then skipped right to the end with the bro shit.

Never mind that little downtown shootout where they spent 10 minutes killing each other's colleagues, and trying
their damnedest to shoot each other in the head.

Cut it down to its' best 90-100 minutes and re-shoot the ending and it'd be great. There are so many amazing scenes
but the movie bogs down with too much relationship drama in between them.

 

[norminal]

Watching Aliens Expanded. Not bad. Just a documentary on the production of the film.

Aliens Expanded (2024) ⭐ 8.7 | Documentary

Aliens Expanded: Directed by Ian Nathan. With James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Gale Anne Hurd, Michael Biehn. An in-depth and innovative documentary that explores the story behind James Cameron's beloved sci-fi epic Aliens: Die Rückkehr (1986) and its incredible impact.

m.imdb.com

 

[JiveTurkey]

Watching Aliens Expanded. Not bad. Just a documentary on the production of the film.

Aliens Expanded (2024) ⭐ 8.7 | Documentary

Aliens Expanded: Directed by Ian Nathan. With James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Gale Anne Hurd, Michael Biehn. An in-depth and innovative documentary that explores the story behind James Cameron's beloved sci-fi epic Aliens: Die Rückkehr (1986) and its incredible impact.

m.imdb.com

I like all the Alien films. I am looking forward to Romulus

 

[State of Epicicity]

Overlong, too much time spent of boy/girl soap opera stuff, and the ending was so dumb.
It's like they took their diner scene with the hint of bonding and then skipped right to the end with the bro shit.

Never mind that little downtown shootout where they spent 10 minutes killing each other's colleagues, and trying
their damnedest to shoot each other in the head.

Cut it down to its' best 90-100 minutes and re-shoot the ending and it'd be great. There are so many amazing scenes
but the movie bogs down with too much relationship drama in between them.

I think you and I agree that's it's a movie and it does exist. I'm not sure about the rest...

 

[Achilles]

I think you and I agree that's it's a movie and it does exist. I'm not sure about the rest...

I'm being overly critical. I actually love a good chunk of it.

 

[Achilles]

I think you and I agree that's it's a movie and it does exist. I'm not sure about the rest...

Loki's a fan.

 

[State of Epicicity]

I'm being overly critical. I actually love a good chunk of it.

No, I don't think your criticism is invalid at all haha. I'm overly critical in general, according to everyone I've ever known. I love it when someone disagrees with me, because I may learn something!

 

[laxu]

I like all the Alien films. I am looking forward to Romulus

Alien and Aliens are easily some of my favorite films.

Alien 3 is not totally bad, it's just a victim of development hell. I'm kinda curious how it would have turned out with less studio meddling.
Alien Resurrection has its moments as well, and some really creepy creature effects. I don't hate it, but it could be better as well.
Alien vs Predator movies are straight up crap. I can't believe they thought they had something good there. All they really needed to do is follow the AvP comics for plot to have something better.
I like Prometheus but they should have let it be a new thing that stands on its own.
Alien Covenant is the worst of the bunch though. It's the kind that is insulting the viewer's intelligence even more than Prometheus' "scientists who will just go touch alien fauna" stuff. They really should not have shoehorned Alien into this movie and just gone with Prometheus 2 because Michael Fassbender does do a good job.

The Alien Isolation game is the best thing done in the franchise for years. It's genuinely terrifying to play and even storywise has all the makings of a good Alien story.

I'm really, really hoping that Alien Romulus is actually good. Everything I've seen so far points to it being possible.

 

[Achilles]

"scientists who will just go touch alien fauna"

Richest dude on earth spends trillions of dollars on a spaceship and it's related mission to traverse the universe in hopes of finally discovering the true origins of mankind.




Hires his crew from the parking lot of a Home Depot...

 

[State of Epicicity]

I didn't think the original Alien needed a franchise. I thought that was just a great and cool film.

I highly recommend this comedian's stuff. Ryan George is hilarious, and he is dead on with his dissection of plots:

 

[Aelred]

Alien was brilliant and unique upon release and did not need a sequel let alone a franchise or – shudder – a prequel.

Aliens was an OK bug-splatter fest, but nothing much to do with the original based on HR Giger’s vision. It shines now – to me – because of all the atrocities that followed.

Blade Runner did not need a sequel, but I expect a prequel one day.

Is there really a Heat 2? Oh dear, I looked it up – it’s both a prequel and a sequel. Best part of the original was when Armenia by Einsturzende Neubauten kicked in. I figured Henry Rollins had a word.

Genre fiction – sci-fi, fantasy, spies, superheroes etc – has always had a bit of an issue with this, but it seems to be spilling over into everything.

I hear Twisters is a bit of fun, but really? A sequel to Twister?